Currently, the most-affected nations are the US (29 million cases, 541,913 deaths), Brazil (11.9 million cases, over 292,752 deaths) and India (11.5 million cases, 159,558 fatalities).
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The global death toll from the coronavirus infection has topped 2.709 million; almost 122 million cases of the infection have been detected, according to Baltimore, Maryland's Johns Hopkins University, which tracks and compiles data from national and local authorities, the media and other sources.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia and China will be working on resuming travel as the coronavirus situation improves, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Chinese media, published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"I am certain that as the epidemiological situation normalizes - and this tendency is already evident - we will be able to do all that is necessary together for a speedy reopening of borders and resumption of mutual travel. Through gradual easing, it is necessary to remove the current strict quarantine restrictions," Lavrov said.
The minister pointed out that the tourist exchange between Russia and China has been growing in the past years, but the coronavirus pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the tourism industry.
Asked about the possibility of introducing vaccination certificates in Russia, Lavrov said that this issue is being studied in all the detail.
"We see how corresponding steps are being taken in China. We are studying the Chinese experience and approaches of other countries to this issue, including within the framework of the European Union," the Russian foreign minister said.
00:51 GMT 22.03.2021
BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - A strict lockdown will be enforced in Venezuela for the week of Easter, President Nicolas Maduro has announced.
At the same time, strategic sectors such as healthcare, communications, and food supplies will continue to work as usual, Maduro said at a Sunday meeting, broadcast on Twitter.
According to the Venezuelan leader, the number of coronavirus cases has been increasing in the country, particularly cases of the Brazilian strain.
23:09 GMT 21.03.2021
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Dear Commissioner Breton, please stop being biased. Europeans want a choice of safe and efficient vaccines, which you so far failed to provide. Sputnik V is already registered in 54 countries.
— Sputnik V (@sputnikvaccine) March 21, 2021
21:23 GMT 21.03.2021
WARSAW (Sputnik) - Polish medical workers will vaccinate NATO headquarters staff in Brussels with AstraZeneca coronavirus shots, the national government said on Sunday.
"We were officially invited by NATO to have Polish medical teams carry out vaccinations at the alliance headquarters in Brussels," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted.
The Polish leader added that the mission is important, because "NATO is an organization that ensures security for about a billion people in the world."
19:25 GMT 21.03.2021
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Indian Lawmaker Narain Dass Gupta asked Vise President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday to adjourn the parliament after the country saw another four-month high in daily coronavirus cases.
On Sunday, India logged further 43,846 infections, marking another highest daily figure in nearly four months. The country has the world’s third-largest COVID-19 tally.
"This is to bring to your kind notice that there is alarming rise in corona cases nearing a peak situation again nationwide, it is requested to adjourn the Parliament Session as a precautionary measure for safety of Respected Members and Staff," Gupta said in a letter.
To support his stand, the lawmaker noted that the average age of members of parliament is 62. He also mentioned the recent positive COVID-19 test of lower house speaker Om Birla.
The parliament gathered for the current session on January 29. The previous one was cut short in September over multiple positive COVID-19 tests among the members of parliament.
17:43 GMT 21.03.2021
South African Health Ministry on Sunday said that the country sold all doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus that it had at its disposal to the member states of the African Union (AU).
"The Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, is pleased to announce that the sale of the Astra Zeneca vaccines that we had acquired has been concluded," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, over the past weeks, the ministry conducted checks on regulatory approvals, permits, and other documents confirming African nations as recipients of the vaccine doses, determined by the AU. Besides, the ministry confirmed that the first shipment of the AstraZeneca jabs is currently distributed among nine AU countries. However, the latter are not specified.
The national mass vaccination program in South Africa was initiated on February 17 and is being carried out in three stages, with the first one reserved for healthcare staff. It was set to begin with the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout, but it was put on hold due to efficacy concerns against the South African coronavirus strain. Instead, the country kicked off the immunization campaign with the first delivery from the US company Johnson & Johnson.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel will seek an extension of the coronavirus-related restrictions in the country beyond this month, Bild reported Sunday, citing a draft document at its disposal.
The draft, which will be discussed with regional leaders on Monday, proposes to keep the measures in April but does not provide any specific dates. It also notes that companies across Germany will have to provide employees with two express tests for the coronavirus every week. The federal government is due to make a decision on the extension by the end of this month, the document said, adding that the relaxation of restrictions depends on "the consistent testing of citizens."
The latest extension of the lockdown, which has been in effect since early November 2020, is set to expire on March 28. Earlier this month, the restrictions were eased in regions with COVID-19 incidence below 50 new cases per week per 100,000 people, In particular, cultural venues and beauty salons were allowed to reopen in these areas.
Countrywide, non-grocery stores were allowed to reopen, except for the state of Thuringia, which has the country's highest COVID-19 incidence rate and stays fully locked down.
13:01 GMT 21.03.2021
Palestine is starting its mass COVID-19 immunization program, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
"COVID-19 vaccination begins today on the Palestinian territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.
Health care workers, people aged 75 and above, as well as cancer patients and those with kidney conditions, will be the first to receive the vaccine.
On Saturday, 85-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was inoculated against COVID-19.
11:15 GMT 21.03.2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting next week on increasing coronavirus vaccine production, Rossiya 1 TV channel reported Sunday.
According to the broadcaster, the president might also meet with winners of the presidential award for young artists and entertainers and winners of the art and literature award for children.
10:18 GMT 21.03.2021
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said Sunday it had approved local production of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed by British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company of the same name, was recently suspended in some EU countries after reports of blood clotting in people who had received the jab. AstraZeneca reaffirmed the safety of their vaccine in a press release on 14 March. Several days later, the European Medicines Agency and a World Health Organization expert panel announced, separately, that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed associated risks. The vaccination resumed in the EU.
"Earlier today, the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved manufacture of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine (ChAdOx1-S) in Australia," the TGA, which is administered by Australia's Department of health, said in a press release.
The TGA authorized overseas-manufactured Astrazeneca in February.
"Specific approval of Australian manufacturing by TGA was required to ensure that the locally-manufactured vaccine had exactly the same composition and performance as overseas-manufactured vaccine, was made to the same quality and is free of contaminants," the TGA explained.
The vaccine will be manufactured at two sites in suburban Melbourne and is an "exciting milestone in Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic," the agency said.
The local production will begin with a TGA batch release, required for every single batch of any vaccine that is supplied in Australia. This will include the review of all documentation on how the vaccine batch was produced, tested, shipped and stored. The review will also look at results of TGA's in-house testing to ensure the vaccine was produced in accordance with all required standards.
Over 1,000 general practices will join Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program starting Monday as they have already been supplied with imported AstraZeneca vaccines. By the end of April, the clinics will increase in number to over 4,000.
10:16 GMT 21.03.2021
Japanese Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said on Sunday that the use of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca and the US Moderna pharmaceutical companies may be authorized as soon as in May.
"I cannot foretell, but it is possible that the approval will be received in May," Tamura said on air the NHK public broadcaster.
The minister added that the government was considering plans to expand PCR testing for timely infection prevention.
Tamura further noted that the existing coronavirus testing requirements for travelers from 24 countries where mutant COVID-19 variants are known to exist, could soon be extended to all inbound travelers. Visitors will be required to undergo additional tests three days after their arrival in Japan and observe a two-week self-isolation.
AstraZeneca and Moderna filed for registration of their coronavirus vaccines with the Japanese health authorities in February and March.
Japan is set to receive 120 million doses of AstraZeneca, enough to vaccinate 60 million people. Out of them, 30 million will be manufactured by Daiichi Sankyo and KM Biologics using undiluted solutions shipped to the country by AstraZeneca. Solutions for the remaining 90 million doses will be produced by JCR Pharmaceuticals in the Japanese city of Kobe.
The mass vaccination campaign in the East Asian island country was launched on 17 February. Japan has already inoculated 40,000 frontline healthcare workers. The new batch of vaccines will be used to vaccinate 4.7 million medical workers. Starting April, 36 million Japanese citizens over 65 years old will also be eligible for vaccination.
Currently, the only registered vaccine in Japan is Pfizer.
08:45 GMT 21.03.2021
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Russia registered 9,299 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 9,632 the day before, taking the overall tally to 4,456,869, the coronavirus response centre said on Sunday.
"Over the past day, 9,299 coronavirus cases were confirmed across 84 Russian regions, including 1,117 cases (12 percent) without clinical symptoms," the centre said, adding that the cumulative case count has now reached 4,456,869, with the rate of increase at 0.22 percent.
Moscow confirmed 1,511 new coronavirus cases over the given period, down from 1,728 the day before. The Russian capital was followed by St. Petersburg with 881 new cases, down from 899 the day before, and the Moscow Region with 648 new cases, up from 651 on Friday.
The response centre reported 371 COVID-19 fatalities, down from 392 the day before, raising the country's death toll to 95,030.
Total recoveries increased by 8,743 over the given period, down from 11,279 the day before, and reached 4,069,395.
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07:20 GMT 21.03.2021
Japan is weighing the decision of introducing a new epidemiological rule that would require all inbound travelers to take a test for the new COVID-19 variants, the Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, citing Health Minister Norihisa Tamura.
The existing coronavirus testing requirements for travelers from those countries where COVID-19 mutated variants are known to exist, include undergoing additional tests three days after the arrival and observing a two-week self-isolation.
According to the media outlet, Tamura said that the government was also considering contracting private security companies to monitor those who in quarantine at their accommodation to make sure they observe the rules.
"It is important to avoid activities with a high risk of infections," the minister noted.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of the country’s COVID-19 response, said on Thursday that Japan was set to lift the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures on Sunday.
The state of emergency was imposed in 11 prefectures in early January. It mandates reducing the work hours of restaurants, movie theaters, entertainment facilities, canceling events, transferring 70 percent of employees to remote work. The state of emergency was extended to 7 March but lifted in six prefectures in late February due to the improvement of the epidemiological situation.
To date, Japan has registered nearly 455,000 cases of COVID-19 infection and over 8,800 deaths.
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